


a home for your heart

by gandrshot



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/F, Ficlet Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 17:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17165930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gandrshot/pseuds/gandrshot
Summary: Glimpses into the intersection of Edythe Cullen and Bella Swan.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> a collection of ficlets for edvthecvllen on tumblr. mostly based on prompts from the "100 ways to say i love you" list.

 The way the cool metal of the van crushed beneath Edythe's palm, it might as well have been a plastic bag.

 By the time she got Bella's legs out from underneath the wheel of the van, she was practically cradled to her, an arm around her torso keeping her in a vice grip close to Edythe's body and, for the moment, out of danger.

 All around them, all Edythe could feel was eyes. Eyes of her family, eyes of her peers, all fearful in equal measure for entirely different reasons. The uproar of minds buzzing around her might have been deafening if she hadn't willed her own mind to shut them out, focus on the quiet of Bella in front of her.

 "Bella, are you okay?" She'd heard her clock her head on the asphalt - a sound that brought unfamiliar pangs of agony into a heartless chest, but a stroke of luck she could use to her advantage, at least, the second Bella started to ask questions about what the hell just happened. Immediately Edythe's hands moved to help resituate her, to sit up against something that wasn't Edythe's cool frame. How _warm_ the soft body was beneath her - she almost recoiled from it, but once she'd steeled herself, acclimated herself to how hot it felt to her cold and stony hands, she was finding it hard to let go.

 "How did you..." A question struggled to pull itself from the hazy waves of confusion in Bella's throbbing head, and Edythe, desperate to let it drown, cut in before she could speak.

 "Be careful. You hit your head pretty hard." No skin broke, thankfully - she could still hear the way blood rushed to the site of impact, pulsing with her out of control heartbeat, and she loathed the way her throat burned against it. If she hadn't stopped breathing already, the smell might have been the thing that broke her thin composure.

 Bella's question would not die. "How the hell did you get over here so fast?"

 "Bella, I was beside you the whole time."

 As Bella moved again and Edythe moved to let her, they locked eyes, brows furrowed, expressions troubled, both for different reasons. Bella's confusion was painted plain across her face; Edythe's concern was both a little real and a little imagined, legitimately worried for the other's well-being but knowing she needed to play up the concern about just how hard did Bella hit her head, for her to be spouting nonsense like this?

 It wasn't enough. "You were over by your car."

 Edythe frowned a hard line. "Bella..."

 "I _saw_ you."

 Around them the commotion was getting it harder to keep up this argument, this pointless back and forth - Bella, sure in what she saw, Edythe, sure in her denial.

 "I was standing right by you and I pulled you out of the way," she insisted. "You must have hit your head harder than I thought..."

 "I _know_ what I saw-"

 But the EMTs had the vehicles apart before either of them could get another word in edgewise, and for that, Edythe was thankful. As soon as they knew Bella had hit her head she was off, the conversation over, Edythe secure in the knowledge that it would probably be Carlisle to tend to Bella's injuries. The second there was an opening in the chaos, Edythe escaped. If she was lucky, she could avoid her family, too, just for a little bit, make her way down to the hospital discreetly before anyone could chastise her for what she'd done. By then, maybe Bella would have succumbed to the notion that smacking her head on the asphalt _had_ jumbled her memories a little, that maybe Edythe had been right all along. Maybe they could all just forget this ever happened. As long as Bella's own awful luck hadn't started to rub off on her.


	2. Chapter 2

 The first time Edythe even spoke to her after the accident - outside of class, outside of required pleasantries - was when Bella was eating shit on the ice on her way to first period.

 Bella went out of her way to avoid walking past the Cullens most mornings. Edythe had gotten used to that - taught herself to ignore the pangs in her chest from being ignored, from having to ignore Bella.

 But the February cold snap - enough to make driving and walking to class hell, not enough to convince the district to close the schools - threw everything off. Maybe it had just been a detour, the quickest way in, the easiest way to avoid exposing herself to the elements and the danger therein for any longer than strictly necessary. Maybe it was her way of sticking it to Edythe and the rest of their family, a show of courage to say she didn't _care_ if she got ignored anymore. It would be so much easier to know for sure if her mind wasn't such a complete mystery to Edythe.

 But whatever the reasons behind the decision, Bella's sudden new route took her right past the Cullens leaning on their cars and trying their damnedest not to stare, and took her right across a patch of black ice on the pavement.

 Edythe had been ten feet away when she first slipped - but no one was watching, least of all Bella, and she let herself close that distance a little quicker than she should have, gracefully catching Bella before she could hit the ground.

 "Watch your step," Edythe muttered, helping Bella right herself carefully, trying not to frown at the look of disbelief Bella shot her once she had her wits about her. It was just like the car accident, Bella maddeningly warm under her hands, Edythe having to muster all her willpower to force herself to pull away once her helpful hands were no longer needed.

 "Yeah - uh. Thanks." She adjusted her bag, hurrying off, finding it easier to avoid the ice on the sidewalk as she put her distance between she and Edythe as quickly as she possibly could. And for a moment all Edythe could do was stare after, frowning, till Bella was out of her sight and she was frustratedly gathering her things and making off for her own class.

 Why had she done that? What if she wasn't as sure as she thought about no one watching? Why did the thought of Bella hurting herself on the ice make her stomach churn? She balled her tiny hands into fists as she walked, hearing Royal follow, not caring enough to look at him as he sidled up to her fluidly.

 "That was stupid, Edy," he chastised, frowning in her direction. Frowning harder when she wouldn't give him the time of day to even look at him. "You're being reckless with her."

 "No one was watching," she insisted. "She didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. It's fine."

 "You're choosing the one person you can't be sure about that with," Royal reminded, and this time - when she knew she couldn't argue with that - Edythe refused to respond.


	3. Chapter 3

 "Oh, shit."

 It was under Bella's breath, not meant for anyone to hear, but Edythe beside her caught it anyways, watching curiously as she rummaged through her bag, fraught, digging for something Edythe suspected she wouldn't find.

 "What's wrong?" Edythe asked, hoping the other wouldn't consider it prying.

 "I left my textbook at home," Bella groaned, pushing her hair back and out of her way. She sat up just in time to see Edythe pushing her already-open textbook Bella's way.

 "You can borrow mine," she offered, staring straight ahead, not affording Bella so much as a glance even as she stared baffledly at Edythe.

 "Thanks," she murmured, bending over the textbook, trying to catch up and find her place in the reading. It wouldn't be fair for her to take the whole thing though, right? With Edythe still as far away from her as the black-topped desk would allow, she got that churning sensation in that stomach, trying to reconcile to herself why Edythe hated being near her so much. The chances of her being willing to get close enough to share were slim.

 Still, she angled it towards the other, a wordless invitation to join her, albeit refusing to get her hopes up.

 Bella barely contained a smile as she felt Edythe scoot in beside her to read.


	4. Chapter 4

 When Edythe finally explained everything, cornered one morning by a Bella who'd been clever enough to figure most of it out on her own, a lot of things suddenly made sense. The accident. The way the Cullens looked so similar and yet so different at the same time. Why they were outcasts, despite their perfection; even that perfection itself, it all clicked into place, and a part of Bella wondered why she didn't realize it sooner.

 "This is why we don't go into the sunlight, Bella," Edythe explained, an undertone of self-loathing to her voice, even as Bella stared at her in awe. "This is the skin of a monster."

 But that's not what Bella saw. Edythe looked like divinity.

 "I think you're beautiful," she blurted, and Edythe's face contorted as she readjusted her jacket, stepped out of the sunlight.

 "That's by design," she insisted, Bella following behind. "Everything about me is designed to draw you in - the way I look, the way I speak. All of it. Just a snare for prey."

 Bella thought back to the way she'd struggled so bad to compare her musical laugh to some sort of instrument but could never put her finger on it, not merely because it was unlike one, but because no instrument she could think of could sound as beautiful. The way she'd stared for what seemed like an eternity at the Cullens when they made that first grand entrance, but her gaze just kept coming back to Edythe, most perfect of them all in the small sea of her flawless siblings.

 The way even as Edythe ebbed and flowed like the ocean, pushing Bella away before seemingly pulling her back in again, indecisive, borderline hurtful... and yet Bella had never once been able to find it in her to be mad. Not forever. Not long enough to matter, before she found herself forgiving someone she barely knew.

 "It's more than that with you," Bella insisted, catching up to her, unable to resist the urge to reach out and catch her hand. "All of you are beautiful, but _you're..._ "

 She trailed off, unable to find the right words to finish, but Edythe got the hint. If she had been able - and Bella was pretty sure she was not - her cheeks might have flushed, the flustered way her eyebrows shot up and mouth pressed together into a nervous, thin line.

 "It wouldn't _matter,_ " Edythe insisted, pulling her hand away. "It isn't like I would _need_ any of it. Like my prey could outrun me or fight back."

 "I don't care."

 "I've _killed_  people. I wanted to kill _you._ " She sounded almost sheepish to admit it, but forced herself anyways, too important to be left unsaid. As if to prove her point, she took a step back. "It's... something about the way you _smell_  to me. None of the others get it. But I've never wanted a human's blood so bad."

 "That's why you were so angry when we met." Probably why she disappeared for a week, finding a way to steel herself or curb her hunger, or... something.

 "My family doesn't hunt humans - we stick to animal blood, a, uhh... _vegetarian_  diet," Edythe explained. "But sometimes there's mistakes. Sometimes we slip up, can't control ourselves... like I almost did with you."

 "But you didn't." Bella took a step closer, to shorten the distance Edythe kept putting between them. "I... trust you." A part of her was sure Edythe was right, that it was just the way she was built to draw Bella in that was talking. But the larger part, the one that was certain that what she'd begun to feel for her was more than that, won out.

 "You shouldn't," Edythe insisted, a voice barely above a hoarse whisper. But something in her tone begged protest, like all she wanted was for Bella to do it anyways. When Bella took her hand again, and Edythe let her, she reminded herself that this was the fastest predator on the planet, and if she had wanted to, she'd have pulled her hand away before Bella could even get to it.

 "But I do. You won't hurt me."


	5. Chapter 5

 "Come on, we don't want to be late."

 Bella barely had half a shoe on by the time she was stumbling for the Cullen's front door, grabbing her jacket from the back of a chair in passing, Edythe smiling so fondly at her all the while, ready to hold the door open once Bella could worm her way into the other shoe.

 It wasn't until they were halfway to the car that Bella managed to tug the jacket on, and as Edythe went for her door, she stopped cold, staring.

 "What?" Self-consciously Bella found her hands going to her hair, the front of her shirt, searching for anything that might be wrong, even as Edythe flashed that lovestruck smile at her. It took her a moment to look down and realize what she was wearing.

 It wasn't her green jacket - it was Edythe's, a soft shade of brown, Bella in such a hurry to make it out to the car that she hadn't even looked at it long enough to realize what color it was.

 "Let me go get mine," she grumbled, like she was embarrassed, stopping cold in her tracks as Edythe gently caught her arm before she could turn away.

 Bella half expected her to say they didn't have time - but instead, still beaming, she replied, "keep it, it looks good on you."


	6. Chapter 6

 It took Bella a moment to process what she was looking at, staring down at the faded old cover of a well-loved book that Edythe had passed to her without a word, its pages marked with tabs and small bits of paper sticking out of them. The title was barely visible anymore, worn on its fabric cover, but once Bella noticed it she could just make it out - _The Waste Land and Other Poems._

 As she thumbed through the pages she found them filled with annotations in the margins, all unmistakably Edythe's beautiful looping scrawl, all her thoughts and notes in ink dull and faded with age like the printed word they surrounded.

 "I want you to have this," Edythe said softly, when Bella looked up from the book mostly-satisfied with her inspection. She looked away, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear - Bella suspected that if there was still blood running through her veins, her cheeks might be beet red by now. "It's my copy, back from when it first came out. I thought you might enjoy all the annotations from the perspective of someone living through the era..."

 "Wait, is this seriously from 1920?" Bella's attention snapped back to the book, turning it over in her hands with newfound awe for its age. Well-loved had been an understatement - this had stuck with Edythe for about eight decades now, and Bella could hardly believe she was suddenly passing it along to her.

 "1922, technically."

 Bella tore her eyes away to look back up to Edythe, who had finally met her gaze - was staring at her now, in fact, almost expectantly, like she was still trying to gauge how Bella felt about it. One of those moments where she must have been thrilled and vexed in equal measure to not be able to simply read Bella's thoughts for herself.

 Bella leaned forward and quickly closed the space between them just long enough to press a kiss to the corner of Edythe's mouth, scarcely containing her splitting grin as she did. "Edythe, I _love_ it, I love _you._ Thank you."

 She relished in the perfect, beaming smile Edythe shot her in return.


	7. Chapter 7

 Bella would never get over Edythe's laugh. Melodic, musical, even if she still struggled to place what instrument it reminded her of. She almost forgot what it was that had made her laugh in the first place - a dry joke she had made about the book they were reading for English the next day, a passing comment. At this point it didn't matter, because even if it wasn't anything more than a giggle as Edythe's eyes stayed locked on the pages of her book, Bella still couldn't help but stare.

 When she realized the other's eyes were on her, Edythe turned to her, hand reaching up instinctively to tuck a stray bit of hair behind her ear. Self-consciously, maybe, but over _what,_ Bella wondered?

 "What?"

 Bella flushed, turning back to her own book quickly. "Nothing," she replied, almost muttering it. "I just... like your laugh."

 Her heart hammered as Edythe ducked over to press a gentle kiss against her shoulder.


	8. Chapter 8

 Bella scarcely had time to lay her head to the cool pillow by the time the tapping started on her window. At first she dismissed it as the wind - but that was more the drowsiness talking, the part of her that absolutely didn't want to get up and investigate. It almost reminded her of her first nights in Forks, when the slightest wind or rain would keep her tossing and turning for hours.

 But the sound on the glass pane now was too deliberate, too consistent to be the wind, merely the tapping of a stray branch against her window.

 She knew what it was before she even made it close enough to see that soft smiling face peering at her through the window.

 "Edythe, what are you doing here?"

 "I was in the neighborhood," she chimed in that playful, musical tone. "I hope I didn't wake you."

 "Couldn't sleep," Bella lied, moving back and beckoning Edythe to come in, instead of hanging haphazardly off the side of her windowsill. As if the fall would be anything more than a mild inconvenience to her. She watched Edythe pull herself up with ease in seconds, somehow faster than Bella expected even after all this time knowing exactly how fast she could move.

 "In that case maybe you wouldn't mind if I kept you company," Edythe offered, the way she let her voice trail off at the end suggesting she was hoping Bella might posit a little more.

 "Yeah, of course." Bella nodded hastily, and then hesitated, just for a beat, before adding, "You should stay over."

 Edythe beamed. "Anything."

 She was already on the bed before Bella could turn around, propped against the pillows, beckoning her over. Edythe was a little smaller than Bella by a few inches - not that it meant anything, given Edythe could still swing Bella over her back and run her around like a sack of potatoes - but she liked holding Bella anyways, seeing her slot perfectly against her body with her head on Edythe's chest.

 They talked for a little while - about anything, everything, like they weren't spending all their summer days together already and didn't already know everything about each others' days - but it didn't take long, curled against Edythe's firm form, for Bella to fall asleep, lulled by the melodic voice, the fingers combing tenderly through her hair.

 The hours passed and morning broke surprisingly clearly, a rare sunny day in Forks. The kinds of days the Cullens always took off as "camping" and "hiking" trips during the school year. The nice thing about summer was, at least Bella didn't have to worry about these days anymore, days - and sometimes nights, if the clear weather was expected to last into tomorrow - spent waiting for Edythe's return. In the summer, though, Charlie was more than happy to have her run along on their hiking trips as long as they had her back in time for dinner. Probably helped how much he liked Carlisle and trusted her with he and his husband.

 It couldn't have been long after dawn when Bella woke - still that golden hour of the morning, sunlight just streaming in through the window, casting soft rays on Edythe's tranquil face and lighting her up in a dazzling glimmer. The way her stony skin shone was supposed to be the mark of a predator - Bella had a hard time seeing it as anything but divinity. Especially now, rubbing sleep from her eyes and twisting her head up against Edythe's chest to watch her.

 Bella knew better, but with Edythe's eyes closed, her whole frame completely still, you might have believed she was sleeping - if you could overlook the way not even her chest rose and fell, anyways. But the peacefulness that washed over her visage as she rested her eyes practically knocked the wind out of Bella. Oftentimes - and mostly to herself - she liked to compare Edythe to Aphrodite herself. Mornings like this made her think not even she could hold a candle to Edythe.

 She smiled, eyes still serenely shut, feeling Bella stir against her, and Bella flushed, knowing full well that even if she couldn't see her, couldn't hear her mind and its lovestruck musings, Edythe _probably_ knew full well Bella had been watching.

 "Good morning, my love."


	9. Chapter 9

 The change in temperature certainly wasn't the first thing that Bella noticed when the venom finally settled and she came to in her second life. There were a lot of things to notice - details in the paint on the way yards away, the soft swaying of pine in the forest outside the house, every smell distinctly amplified.

 When Edythe found her, gathering her bearings, she closed the distance with a smile that screamed both lovestruck and relieved, and slid her hands carefully along Bella's sides. When Bella reached to cup her face, and her own stony skin met Edythe's for the first time, she gasped, audibly, the first breath she'd taken since she stopped needing to. Not from the cold - she'd grown acclimated to that ages ago, it was still what she was expecting. Instead her hands met with something else entirely.

 "You're _warm._ "

 Edythe laughed, bringing her hand up to rest over Bella's. "We're the same temperature now," she corrected. And maybe she'd miss Bella's living warmth for a brief time, she thought, no longer hot beneath her fingertips like she once was, but as Bella ducked down and kissed her, all the passion and the strength in a newborn in it, and as Edythe tugged her closer, it was the last thing on her mind.


End file.
